#peng chen

Peng Chen, the Peter J. W. Debye Professor of Chemistry, is one of 30 national finalists for the The Blavatnik National Awards for Young Scientist.

The finalists will be competing for three spots as the 2014 Blavatnik National Laureates and were selected from more than 300 outstanding nominations of faculty-rank researchers, aged 42 or younger, from the nation's leading academic and research institutions.

Prof. Peng Chen, the Peter J.W. Debye Professor of Chemistry, has been recognized with 12 major awards and honors in the past 15 years, two of which he received in 2014.

Chen’s research examines the development and application of microscopy techniques that look at single molecules to conquer physical, bioinorganic and biophysical scientific problems.  Read about his work in this Cornell Daily Sun article.

I had the privilege to speak with a UPenn alum working for JP Morgan.

1: "What do you want to do after college?"

2: "I'm not sure... I-"

1: "I mean, like what are you studying right now?"

2: "Well I'm studying electrical engineering, but I was just recently asked the same thing by our pledges down at Hopkins and I told them, 'I just want to be happy'. I mean, I think I want to be an engineer. I think that will make me happy, but I'm not entirely sure."

He gave me a nod of approval with an inquisitive look on his face. I took it as a good thing, though he may have seen me as misguided, undriven, and unfocused, all of which may have some truth these days. But the bottom line is that I'm scared after making this realization, the realization that I might be pursuing something that's not what I think it will be. I've told several people, including my parents, I don't mind living a mediocre life. I just want to be happy. Something so simple has never seemed more difficult to achieve.

I was reflecting on this and other events from last weekend as I was walking home from class today. I thought to myself, "I just want to let everyone I hung out with know that I enjoyed making them happy. I love making people happy... I want to make others happy so I can be happy!". And then I remembered a conversation I had with someone not too long ago. It was about how people can never be dependent on others for their own happiness to be truly happy. So going back to what I thought about as I was walking home, getting enjoyment from making people happy is fine, but I need to find a better, more powerful source from somewhere within.

But how can I make myself happy without being selfish? I don't want to make myself "happy" by buying shit; the enjoyment is so transient. I don't want to go on adventures alone; it's always better with company. I don't want to study the stupid shit I'm stuck with for the rest of the semester and summer.